I’m thinking about three men on my 48th birthday
Photo by Rob Wicks on Unsplash
I turned 48 this week.
Birthdays make me think hard about life. What about you?
On this birthday, three men are on my mind.
This first is my great grandfather, Bethel Irwin. I don’t know what he was doing when he was 48 years old, but it had to be bad. He left my great grandmother alone with nine kids. He was a drinker, philanderer, and, as the family story goes, a pimp.
So far, I’ve made better choices than Papaw Bethel, but I have his DNA. I’m capable of doing whatever he did (and don’t think I haven’t thought about it).
The second man on my mind is my grandfather, Walter Irwin. Papaw did a lot of good things for a lot of people, but I think he wanted to do great things. Things that would get him into a hall of fame.
Papaw was eight years old when his father left. A boy that age does not suffer that kind of wound without it scarring him for...